Multi-carrier operation in a wireless communication network

ABSTRACT

Techniques for communicating on multiple carriers in a wireless communication network are described. In an aspect, different transmit power levels may be used for different carriers to mitigate interference. A first base station may be assigned one or more carriers among multiple carriers available for communication. A second base station may be assigned one or more carriers not assigned to the first base station. Each base station may communicate on each assigned carrier at a first (e.g., full) transmit power level and may communicate on each unassigned carrier at a second (e.g., lower) transmit power level lower. The first and second base stations may belong in different power classes or support different association types. In another aspect, control information may be sent on a designated carrier to support communication on multiple carriers. In yet another aspect, a base station may broadcast bar information indicating the status of carriers.

The present application for patent is a divisional of co-pending,commonly assigned, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/490,086 filedJun. 23, 2009, which claims priority to provisional U.S. applicationSer. No. 61/076,366, entitled “FLEXIBLE MULTICARRIER COMMUNICATIONSYSTEM,” filed Jun. 27, 2008, assigned to the assignee hereof andincorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

I. Field

The present disclosure relates generally to communication, and morespecifically to techniques for communicating in a wireless communicationnetwork.

II. Background

Wireless communication networks are widely deployed to provide variouscommunication content such as voice, video, packet data, messaging,broadcast, etc. These wireless networks may be multiple-access networkscapable of supporting multiple users by sharing the available networkresources. Examples of such multiple-access networks include CodeDivision Multiple Access (CDMA) networks, Time Division Multiple Access(TDMA) networks, Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) networks,Orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) networks, and Single-Carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA)networks.

A wireless communication network may include a number of base stationsthat can support communication for a number of user equipments (UEs). AUE may communicate with a base station via the downlink and uplink. Thedownlink (or forward link) refers to the communication link from thebase station to the UE, and the uplink (or reverse link) refers to thecommunication link from the UE to the base station.

A base station may transmit data and control information on the downlinkto a UE and/or may receive data and control information on the uplinkfrom the UE. On the downlink, a transmission from the base station mayobserve interference due to transmissions from neighbor base stations.On the uplink, a transmission from the UE may observe interference dueto transmissions from other UEs communicating with the neighbor basestations. The interference may degrade performance on both the downlinkand uplink.

SUMMARY

Techniques for communicating on multiple carriers in a wirelesscommunication network are described herein. A carrier may be a range offrequencies that may be used for communication and may be defined by aparticular center frequency and a particular bandwidth. A carrier may beseparated from an adjacent carrier by a guard band and may also haveother attributes, as described below. The multiple carriers may be usedto support communication in dominant interference scenarios, which arescenarios in which high interference may be observed from interferingbase stations and/or interfering UEs.

In an aspect, different transmit power levels may be used for differentcarriers to mitigate interference and achieve good overall performance.In one design, a first base station may be assigned one or more carriersamong multiple carriers available for communication. A second basestation may be assigned one or more carriers not assigned to the firstbase station. The first base station may communicate on each assignedcarrier at a first (e.g., full) transmit power level. The first basestation may communicate on each unassigned carrier at a second transmitpower level, which may be lower than the first transmit power level inorder to reduce interference to the second base station. The first andsecond base stations may belong in different power classes. For example,the first base station may be a high-power base station whereas thesecond base station may be a lower-power base station, or vice versa.The first and second base stations may also support differentassociation/access types. For example, the first base station maysupport unrestricted access whereas the second base station may supportrestricted access, or vice versa. Communication on the multiple carriersmay be supported as described below.

In another aspect, control information may be sent on a designatedcarrier to support communication on at least one other carrier. Astation (e.g., a base station or a UE) may communicate on the at leastone carrier. The station may exchange (e.g., send or receive) controlinformation on the designated carrier for the communication on the atleast one carrier. The control information may comprise schedulinggrants or assignments, channel quality indicator (CQI) information,acknowledgement (ACK) information, etc. The control information may besent with a higher transmit power level on the designated carrier, whichmay improve reliability.

In yet another aspect, auto-configuration may be performed to select asuitable carrier for communication. A station (e.g., a base station or aUE) may determine a metric for each of multiple carriers available forcommunication. The metric may comprise at least one parameter other thansignal strength, e.g., received signal quality, pathloss, etc. Thestation may select a carrier for communication from among the multiplecarriers based on the metric for each carrier. The station may thencommunicate on the selected carrier. In one design, both data andcontrol information may be exchanged (e.g., sent or received) via theselected carrier. In another design, control information may beexchanged via the selected carrier, and data may be exchanged via theselected carrier and/or another carrier.

In yet another aspect, a base station may broadcast bar informationindicating the status of carriers. The base station may determine barinformation for each carrier. In one design, the bar information foreach carrier may indicate whether that the carrier is barred from use.In another design, the bar information for a given carrier may indicatethat the carrier is not barred for a first set of UEs and is barred fora second set of UEs. The bar information for each carrier may alsocomprise other information that may be used to control access andcommunication on the carrier. The base station may broadcast the barinformation to UEs, which may use the bar information to determineaccess to the base station.

Various aspects and features of the disclosure are described in furtherdetail below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a wireless communication network.

FIG. 2 shows a carrier structure for a single carrier.

FIGS. 3A and 3B show carrier structures for multiple carriers.

FIG. 4 shows operation on two carriers by a macro base station andoperation on one of two carriers by a pico or femto base station.

FIG. 5 shows communication on multiple downlink and uplink carriers.

FIGS. 6 and 7 show a process and an apparatus, respectively, forcommunication on multiple carriers by a base station.

FIGS. 8 and 9 show a process and an apparatus, respectively, forcommunication on an assigned carrier by a base station.

FIGS. 10 and 11 show a process and an apparatus, respectively, forcommunication by a UE.

FIGS. 12 and 13 show a process and an apparatus, respectively, forcommunication on multiple carriers with control information sent on asingle carrier.

FIGS. 14 and 15 show a process and an apparatus, respectively, forcommunication on a carrier selected with auto-configuration.

FIGS. 16 and 17 show a process and an apparatus, respectively, forbroadcasting bar information by a base station.

FIG. 18 shows a block diagram of a base station and a UE.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The techniques described herein may be used for various wirelesscommunication networks such as CDMA, TDMA, FDMA, OFDMA, SC-FDMA andother networks. The terms “network” and “system” are often usedinterchangeably. A CDMA network may implement a radio technology such asUniversal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), cdma2000, etc. UTRA includesWideband CDMA (WCDMA) and other variants of CDMA. cdma2000 coversIS-2000, IS-95 and IS-856 standards. A TDMA network may implement aradio technology such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM).An OFDMA network may implement a radio technology such as Evolved UTRA(E-UTRA), Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16(WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, Flash-OFDM®, etc. UTRA and E-UTRA are part ofUniversal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS). 3GPP Long TermEvolution (LTE) and LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) are new releases of UMTS thatuse E-UTRA. UTRA, E-UTRA, UMTS, LTE, LTE-A and GSM are described indocuments from an organization named “3rd Generation PartnershipProject” (3GPP). cdma2000 and UMB are described in documents from anorganization named “3rd Generation Partnership Project 2” (3GPP2). Thetechniques described herein may be used for the wireless networks andradio technologies mentioned above as well as other wireless networksand radio technologies. For clarity, certain aspects of the techniquesare described below for LTE, and LTE terminology is used in much of thedescription below.

FIG. 1 shows a wireless communication network 100, which may be an LTEnetwork or some other network. Wireless network 100 may include a numberof evolved Node Bs (eNBs) 110 and other network entities. An eNB may bea station that communicates with the UEs and may also be referred to asa base station, a Node B, an access point, etc. Each eNB 110 may providecommunication coverage for a particular geographic area. In 3GPP, theterm “cell” can refer to a coverage area of an eNB and/or an eNBsubsystem serving this coverage area, depending on the context in whichthe term is used.

An eNB may provide communication coverage for a macro cell, a pico cell,a femto cell, and/or other types of cell. A macro cell may cover arelatively large geographic area (e.g., several kilometers in radius)and may allow unrestricted access by UEs with service subscription. Apico cell may cover a relatively small geographic area and may allowunrestricted access by UEs with service subscription. A femto cell maycover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a home) and may allowrestricted access by UEs having association with the femto cell (e.g.,UEs in a Closed Subscriber Group (CSG), UEs for users in the home,etc.). An eNB for a macro cell may be referred to as a macro eNB. An eNBfor a pico cell may be referred to as a pico eNB. An eNB for a femtocell may be referred to as a femto eNB or a home eNB. In the exampleshown in FIG. 1, eNBs 110 a, 110 b and 110 c may be macro eNBs for macrocells 102 a, 102 b and 102 c, respectively. eNB 110 x may be a pico eNBfor a pico cell 102 x. eNBs 110 y and 110 z may be femto eNBs or homeeNBs for femto cells 102 y and 102 z, respectively. An eNB may supportone or multiple (e.g., three) cells.

Wireless network 100 may also include relay stations, e.g., a relaystation 110 r. A relay station is a station that receives a transmissionof data and/or other information from an upstream station (e.g., an eNBor a UE) and sends a transmission of the data and/or other informationto a downstream station (e.g., a UE or an eNB). A relay station may alsobe a UE that relays transmissions for other UEs. A relay station mayalso be referred to as a relay eNB, a relay, etc.

Wireless network 100 may be a homogeneous network that includes eNBs ofone type, e.g., only macro eNBs, or only femto eNBs. Wireless network100 may also be a heterogeneous network that includes eNBs of differenttypes, e.g., macro eNBs, pico eNBs, femto eNBs, relays, etc. Thedifferent types of eNBs may have different transmit power levels,different coverage areas, and different impact on interference inwireless network 100. For example, macro eNBs may have a high transmitpower level (e.g., 20 Watts) whereas pico eNBs, femto eNBs, and relaysmay have a lower transmit power level (e.g., 1 Watt). The techniquesdescribed herein may be used for both homogeneous and heterogeneousnetworks. The techniques may be used for different types of eNBs andrelays.

Wireless network 100 may support synchronous or asynchronous operation.For synchronous operation, the eNBs may have similar frame timing, andtransmissions from different eNBs may be approximately aligned in time.For asynchronous operation, the eNBs may have different frame timing,and transmissions from different eNBs may not be aligned in time. Thetechniques described herein may be used for both synchronous andasynchronous operation.

A network controller 130 may couple to a set of eNBs and may providecoordination and control for these eNBs. Network controller 130 maycommunicate with eNBs 110 via a backhaul. eNBs 110 may also communicatewith one another, e.g., via wireless or wireline backhaul.

UEs 120 may be dispersed throughout wireless network 100, and each UEmay be stationary or mobile. A UE may also be referred to as a terminal,a mobile station, a subscriber unit, a station, etc. A UE may be acellular phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a wireless modem, awireless communication device, a handheld device, a laptop computer, acordless phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, etc. A UE may beable to communicate with macro eNBs, pico eNBs, femto eNBs, relays, etc.In FIG. 1, a solid line with double arrows indicates desiredtransmissions between a UE and a serving eNB, which is an eNB designatedto serve the UE on the downlink and/or uplink. A dashed line with doublearrows indicates interfering transmissions between a UE and an eNB.

Wireless network 100 may support operation on a configurable systembandwidth. For example, wireless network 100 may be an LTE network thatsupports operation on system bandwidth of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10 or 20megahertz (MHz). The system bandwidth may be partitioned into subbands.For example, a subband may cover 1.08 MHz, and there may be 1, 2, 4, 8or 16 subbands for system bandwidth of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10 or 20 MHz,respectively.

FIG. 2 shows a design of a carrier structure 200 supportingcommunication on a single downlink carrier. The downlink carrier mayhave a bandwidth of BW and may be centered at a frequency of ƒ_(c). AneNB may transmit a primary synchronization signal (PSS) and a secondarysynchronization signal (SSS) for each cell in the eNB. Thesynchronization signals may be used by UEs for cell detection andacquisition. The eNB may also transmit various control channels such asa Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH), a Physical Control Format IndicatorChannel (PCFICH), a Physical HARQ Indicator Channel (PHICH) and aPhysical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) in LTE. The PBCH may carrycertain system information. The PCFICH may convey the number of symbolperiods (M) used for the control channels in a subframe. The PHICH maycarry ACK information to support hybrid automatic retransmission (HARQ).The PDCCH may carry control information such as scheduling grants forUEs for data transmission on the downlink and uplink. The eNB may alsotransmit one or more data channels such as a Physical Downlink SharedChannel (PDSCH) in LTE. The PDSCH may carry data for UEs scheduled fordata transmission on the downlink. The eNB may transmit the PSS, SSS andPBCH in the center 1.08 MHz of the downlink carrier. The eNB maytransmit the PCFICH, PHICH, PDCCH and PDSCH across all or part of thedownlink carrier in each symbol period in which these channels are sent.

A UE may be within the coverage of multiple eNBs. One of these eNBs maybe selected to serve the UE. The serving eNB may be selected based onvarious criteria such as received signal quality, pathloss, etc.Received signal quality may be given by a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), acarrier-to-interference ratio (C/I), etc.

A UE may operate in a dominant interference scenario, which is ascenario in which the UE may observe high interference from one or moreinterfering eNBs. A dominant interference scenario may occur due torestricted association. For example, in FIG. 1, UE 120 y may be close tofemto eNB 110 y and may have high received power for eNB 110 y. However,UE 120 y may not be able to access femto eNB 110 y due to restrictedassociation and may then connect to macro eNB 110 c with lower receivedpower (as shown in FIG. 1) or to femto eNB 110 z also with lowerreceived power (not shown in FIG. 1). UE 120 y may then observe highinterference from femto eNB 110 y on the downlink and may also causehigh interference to eNB 110 y on the uplink.

A dominant interference scenario may also occur due to range extension,which is a scenario in which a UE connects to an eNB with lower pathlossand lower SNR among all eNBs detected by the UE. For example, in FIG. 1,UE 120 x may detect macro eNB 110 b and pico eNB 110 x and may havelower received power for eNB 110 x than eNB 110 b. Nevertheless, it maybe desirable for UE 120 x to connect to pico eNB 110 x if the pathlossfor eNB 110 x is lower than the pathloss for macro eNB 110 b. This mayresult in less interference to the wireless network for a given datarate for UE 120 x. Range extension may also be used for relays.

In an aspect, communication in dominant interference scenarios may besupported by using multiple carriers and assigning eNBs to differentcarriers such that good performance can be achieved. In general, anynumber of carriers may be used for each of the downlink and uplink. Thenumber of carriers may be dependent on various factors such as thesystem bandwidth, the desired or required bandwidth for each carrier,etc. The available carriers may be assigned to the eNBs in variousmanners, as described below.

FIG. 3A shows a design of a carrier structure 300 supportingcommunication on two downlink carriers 1 and 2. The system bandwidth ofBW may be partitioned into two carriers, and each downlink carrier mayhave a bandwidth of BW/2. For example, a 10 MHz system bandwidth may bepartitioned into two 5 MHz carriers. In general, the system bandwidthmay be partitioned equally or unequally, and the downlink carriers mayhave the same or different bandwidths.

In one design, the two downlink carriers may be assigned to eNBs ofdifferent power classes. High-power eNBs (e.g., macro eNBs) may beassigned one downlink carrier (e.g., carrier 1), and lower-power eNBs(e.g., pico and femto eNBs) may be assigned the other downlink carrier(e.g., carrier 2). In another design, the two downlink carriers may beassigned to eNBs of different association/access types. UnrestrictedeNBs (e.g., macro and pico eNBs) may be assigned one downlink carrier(e.g., carrier 1), and restricted eNBs (e.g., femto eNBs) may beassigned the other downlink carrier (e.g., carrier 2). The two carriersmay also be assigned to eNBs in other manners.

FIG. 3B shows a design of a carrier structure 310 supportingcommunication on M downlink carriers 1 through M, where M may be greaterthan two. The system bandwidth of BW may be partitioned into M equalparts, and each downlink carrier may have a bandwidth of BW/M . Forexample, a 10 MHz system bandwidth may be partitioned into four 2.5 MHzcarriers. In general, the system bandwidth may be partitioned equally orunequally into M parts. The M downlink carriers may have the same ordifferent bandwidths. For example, a 10 MHz system bandwidth may bepartitioned into (i) four 2.5 MHz carriers, (ii) one 5 MHz carrier andtwo 2.5 MHz carriers, (iii) eight 1.25 MHz carriers, (iv) one 5 MHzcarrier, one 2.5 MHz carrier, and two 1.25 MHz carriers, or (v) someother combination of carriers.

The M downlink carriers may be assigned to eNBs in various manners. Inone design, eNBs of different power classes may be assigned differentdownlink carriers. In another design, eNBs of different associationtypes may be assigned different downlink carriers. In yet anotherdesign, eNBs causing high interference to one another may be assigneddifferent downlink carriers. For example, the 10 MHz system bandwidthmay be partitioned into one 5 MHz carrier and two 2.5 MHz carriers. Inthe example shown in FIG. 1, macro eNB 110 c may be assigned the 5 MHzcarrier, femto eNB 110 y may be assigned one 2.5 MHz carrier, and femtoeNB 110 z may be assigned the other 2.5 MHz carrier.

In general, an eNB may be assigned one or more downlink carriers. In onedesign, the eNB may transmit at full power on each assigned downlinkcarrier. In one design, the eNB may avoid transmitting on eachunassigned downlink carrier or may transmit at a lower power level inorder to reduce interference to other eNBs assigned this carrier. TheeNB may thus transmit at different power levels on the assigned andunassigned downlink carriers. In general, higher transmit power may beused for an assigned carrier, and lower (or no) transmit power may beused for an unassigned carrier. For each eNB, an assigned carrier mayhave less interference from other eNBs than an unassigned carrier.

FIG. 4 shows exemplary operation by a macro eNB on two downlink carriers1 and 2. The horizontal axis may represent frequency, and the verticalaxis may represent transmit power. The macro eNB may be assigneddownlink carrier 1 and may transmit at full power on this carrier. Themacro eNB may transmit at a lower power level on downlink carrier 2 (asshown in FIG. 4) or may avoid transmitting on carrier 2 (not shown inFIG. 4) in order to reduce interference to other eNBs assigned carrier2.

FIG. 4 also shows exemplary operation by a pico or femto eNB for theexample in which two downlink carriers 1 and 2 are available. The picoor femto eNB may be assigned downlink carrier 2 and may transmit at fullpower on this carrier. The pico or femto eNB may avoid transmitting ondownlink carrier 1 (as shown in FIG. 4) or may transmit at a lower powerlevel on carrier 1 (not shown in FIG. 4) in order to reduce interferenceto the macro eNB assigned carrier 1.

The design shown in FIG. 4 may support communication in a restrictedassociation scenario, with a femto eNB being assigned downlink carrier2. A UE that is within the range of the femto eNB may connect to themacro eNB on downlink carrier 1 and can avoid high interference from thefemto eNB on downlink carrier 2. The design shown in FIG. 4 may alsosupport communication in a range extension scenario, with a pico eNBbeing assigned downlink carrier 2. A UE that is within the range of thepico eNB may connect to the pico eNB on downlink carrier 2 and can avoidhigh interference from the macro eNB on downlink carrier 1.

In one design, the available downlink carriers may be assigned to eNBsin a dynamic and flexible manner. The available downlink carriers may beassigned to eNBs based on one or more metrics, which may relate tonetwork performance, UE performance, etc.

In one design, downlink carriers may be assigned to eNBs based on apredetermined schedule. The schedule may indicate the number of downlinkcarriers to assigned to different eNBs and when the assigned downlinkcarriers are valid. The schedule may be generated by a network operatorto obtain good performance. For example, four downlink carriers may beavailable, three downlink carriers may be assigned to macro eNBs duringthe day, and three downlink carriers may be assigned to femto eNBs atnight when more people are at home and expected to use their femto eNBs.

In another design, eNBs may communicate with one another to assigndownlink carriers among these eNBs. For example, a macro eNB (or anetwork entity) may obtain the loading of neighbor eNBs and may assigndownlink carriers to itself and the neighbor eNBs such that goodperformance can be achieved.

In one design, one downlink carrier may be designated as a downlinkanchor carrier for an eNB. The downlink anchor carrier may have one ormore of the following attributes:

-   -   Can be transmitted at full power by the eNB,    -   Has low interference from other eNBs,    -   Carry synchronization signals used for acquisition,    -   Carry control information for data transmission on the anchor        carrier and/or other carriers,    -   Support communication for UEs capable of operating on a single        carrier, and    -   May be a preferred downlink carrier for operation.

In one design, one uplink carrier may be designated as an uplink anchorcarrier for the eNB. The uplink anchor carrier may have one or more ofthe following attributes:

-   -   Has low interference from other UEs served by other eNBs,    -   Carry control information for data transmission on the anchor        carrier and/or other carriers,    -   Support communication for UEs capable of operating on a single        carrier, and    -   May be a preferred uplink carrier for operation.

In one design, the downlink anchor carrier and/or the uplink anchorcarrier may be specific for the eNB and may be applicable for all UEsserved by the eNB. In another design, the downlink anchor carrier and/orthe uplink anchor carrier may be specific for a UE, and different UEsmay have different downlink anchor carriers and/or different uplinkanchor carriers.

In one design, unrestricted eNBs may transmit synchronization signals(e.g., the PSS and SSS) on each of the available downlink carriers.Restricted eNBs may transmit synchronization signals on each assigneddownlink carrier. Macro eNBs may use lower power when transmittingsynchronization signals on unassigned downlink carriers. UEs may detectfor eNBs based on the synchronization signals transmitted by these eNBs.The UEs may be able to detect the synchronization signals from bothmacro eNBs and restricted eNBs on the downlink carriers assigned to therestricted eNBs since the macro eNBs transmit at a lower power level onthese carriers. The UEs may also determine received signal quality,pathloss, and/or other metrics based on the synchronization signals.Serving eNBs may be selected for the UEs based on the metric(s).

An eNB may have one or more assigned downlink carriers and one or moreunassigned downlink carriers. The eNB may serve one or more UEs on eachassigned downlink carrier and may also serve zero or more UEs on eachunassigned downlink carrier. For example, the eNB may serve strong UEs(e.g., UEs with lower pathloss) on the unassigned downlink carrierssince these UE may be able to overcome high interference from othereNBs. The eNB may serve weak UEs (e.g., UEs with higher pathloss) on theassigned downlink carriers so that these UE can observe lessinterference from other eNBs.

The eNB may transmit data and control information on the assigned andunassigned downlink carriers in various manners. The control informationmay comprise scheduling grants, ACK information, etc. In one design, theeNB may transmit data and control information for each UE on the samedownlink carrier. This design may simplify operation since data andcontrol information are sent on the same carrier. In another design, theeNB may transmit data and control information for a given UE ondifferent downlink carriers. For example, the eNB may transmit controlinformation on an assigned downlink carrier and may transmit data on anunassigned downlink carrier to the UE. This design may improveperformance since the eNB can transmit the control information at higherpower on the assigned downlink carrier. In one design, a new PDCCHformat may be used to convey scheduling grants for data transmission onmultiple downlink carriers. The scheduling grants for different downlinkcarriers may be sent in different payload and/or with differentscrambling on the PDCCH. The PHICH may carry ACK information for datatransmission on multiple uplink carriers.

In one design, frequency reservation may be used to improve performanceand may also be referred to as intra-carrier bandwidth partitioning. AneNB may be assigned a downlink carrier and may reserve a portion of theassigned downlink carrier for another eNB. For example, the eNB may beassigned a 5 MHz carrier with four subbands. The eNB may reserve one ormore subbands in the assigned downlink carrier for another eNB. The eNBmay transmit the PSS, SSS, PBCH and a cell-specific reference signal foreach cell on the assigned downlink carrier in the normal manner. The eNBmay also transmit control information and data on the portion of theassigned downlink carrier that is not reserved for another eNB. The eNBmay avoid transmitting, or may transmit at a lower power level, on thereserved portion of the assigned downlink carrier.

Frequency reservation may be used to dynamically re-allocate frequencyresources among eNBs. Frequency reservation may be used when and asneeded. For example, the number of subbands to reserve for another eNBmay be dependent on the amount of data to send by the other eNB. Thesubbands may also be reserved for as long as needed by the other eNB.Frequency reservation may also be used to assign frequency resourceswith granularity smaller than one carrier.

An eNB may broadcast bar information indicating the status of differentdownlink carriers. In one design, the bar information for a downlinkcarrier may indicate whether that carrier is available for use by UEs.For example, the bar information for each assigned downlink carrier mayindicate that the carrier is available for use, and the bar informationfor each unassigned downlink carrier may indicate that the carrier isunavailable for use. A UE detecting a downlink carrier being barred bythe eNB may (i) search for another downlink carrier that is not barredby the eNB or (ii) select another eNB on that downlink carrier.

In another design, the bar information for a downlink carrier mayidentify UEs allowed to access the carrier and/or UEs not allowed toaccess the carrier. For example, the bar information for an unassigneddownlink carrier may bar a first set of UEs from accessing the carrierand may allow a second set of UEs to access the carrier. The first setof UEs may be unable to reliably communicate with the eNB on theunassigned downlink carrier at lower transmit power level and may then(i) search for another downlink carrier assigned to the eNB or (ii)select another eNB assigned this downlink carrier. The second set of UEsmay be able to reliably communicate with the eNB on the unassigneddownlink carrier even at the lower transmit power level.

The various designs and features described above for downlink carriersmay also be used for uplink carriers. In general, any number of uplinkcarriers may be available for the uplink. The number of uplink carriersmay be dependent on various factors such as the system bandwidth, thedesired or required bandwidth for each uplink carrier, etc. Theavailable uplink carriers may be assigned to eNBs, e.g., as describedabove for the downlink carriers. Higher (e.g., full) transmit power maybe used for each assigned uplink carrier, and lower (or zero) transmitpower may be used for each unassigned uplink carrier.

A given eNB may serve one or more UEs on each assigned uplink carrierand may also serve zero or more UEs on each unassigned uplink carrier.In one design, a UE may transmit data and control information on thesame carrier to the eNB. This design may simplify operation. In anotherdesign, a UE may transmit data on an assigned or unassigned uplinkcarrier and may transmit control information on an assigned uplinkcarrier to the eNB. This design may improve reliability for the controlinformation, which may observe less interference on the assigned uplinkcarrier from other UEs communicating with other eNBs.

In one design, frequency reservation may be used to reserve a portion ofan uplink carrier assigned to an eNB for use by another eNB. Frequencyreservation may be used when and as needed and may be triggered bysignaling exchanged via the backhaul, as described above.

FIG. 5 shows a design of communication by an eNB. In the example shownin FIG. 5, three downlink carriers D1, D2 and D3 are available on thedownlink, and three uplink carriers U1, U2 and U3 are available for theuplink. The eNB may be assigned downlink carriers D2 and D3 as well asuplink carriers U2 and U3.

In one design, the eNB may have a downlink anchor carrier and an uplinkanchor carrier. The downlink anchor carrier may be one of the assigneddownlink carriers, e.g., downlink carrier D2. The uplink anchor carriermay be one of the assigned uplink carriers, e.g., uplink carrier U2. Thedownlink anchor carrier may carry downlink control information from theeNB to support data transmission on the downlink and uplink on allcarriers. The uplink anchor carrier may carry uplink control informationfrom the UEs to support data transmission on the downlink and uplink onall carriers. For example, the downlink control information may includedownlink grants for data transmission on the downlink, uplink grants fordata transmission on the uplink, ACK information for data transmissionon the uplink, etc. The uplink control information may include resourcerequests for data transmission on the uplink, CQI information for datatransmission on the downlink, ACK information for data transmission onthe downlink, etc. The eNB may transmit data to the UEs on the downlinkanchor carrier as well as other downlink carriers, e.g., subject to thelower transmit power limitation for the unassigned downlink carrier. TheUEs may transmit data to the eNB on the uplink anchor carrier as well asother uplink carriers, e.g., subject to the lower transmit powerlimitation for unassigned uplink carrier.

In another aspect, a station may perform auto-configuration to select asuitable carrier for communication from among multiple carriers. Thestation may be a UE or a network entity, which may be a base station, anetwork controller, etc.

In one design, the station may determine a metric for each carrieravailable for communication. The metric may comprise received signalquality, pathloss, signal strength, and/or other parameters. The metricmay also comprise a transmit energy metric, an effective geometrymetric, a projected data rate metric, a utility metric, or some othermetric computed based on the at least one parameter.

The station may select a carrier for communication from among themultiple carriers based on the metric for each carrier. In one design,the metric may comprise received signal quality, and the station mayselect the carrier with the highest received signal quality forcommunication. In another design, the metric may comprise pathloss, andthe station may select the carrier with the lowest pathloss forcommunication. In yet another design, the metric may comprise loading,and the station may select the carrier with the least loading forcommunication. In yet another design, the metric may comprise accessquality determined based on quality-of-service (QoS) and/or data rate,and the station may select the carrier with the highest access qualityfor communication. The station may also select a carrier forcommunication in other manners.

The metric for each carrier may be determined based on information thatmay be obtained in different manners, e.g., depending on whether thestation is a UE or a network entity. In one design, the metric for eachcarrier may be determined based on over-the-air measurements, which maybe used to determine received signal quality, pathloss, etc. In anotherdesign, the metric for each carrier may be determined based on reportssent by UEs to a network entity. In yet another design, the metric foreach carrier may be determined based on backhaul information received bythe network entity from at least one base station.

Anchor carriers may be used to facilitate communication, as describedabove. Anchor carriers may also be used to mitigateself-desensitization. If a wireless network uses a number of carriers onthe downlink and uplink, then self-desensitization at a UE may occur,and downlink carriers closest to uplink transmission may suffer frominterference due to limited isolation between a transmit port and areceive port of a duplexer at the UE. To mitigate self-desensitization,uplink and downlink control may be sent on carriers that may be farthestfrom each other. The uplink and downlink transmissions may be fromdifferent radio technologies.

FIG. 6 shows a design of a process 600 for communication by a first basestation in a wireless network. The first base station may communicate ona first carrier at a first (e.g., full) transmit power level (block612). The first base station may communicate on a second carrier at asecond transmit power level, which may be lower than the first transmitpower level to reduce interference to a second base stationcommunicating on the second carrier (block 614). The first carrier mayhave less interference from the second base station than the secondcarrier.

The first and second base stations may belong in different power classesor may support different association/access types. In one design, thefirst base station may belong in a high power class whereas the secondbase station may belong in a lower power class, or vice versa. Inanother design, the first base station may support unrestricted accesswhereas the second base station may support restricted access, or viceversa.

In one design, the first and second carriers may be for the downlink.For block 612, the first base station may send a first data transmissionon the first carrier at the first transmit power level to a first UE.For block 614, the first base station may send a second datatransmission on the second carrier at the second transmit power level toa second UE. In one design, the first base station may send controlinformation to the first and second UEs on the first carrier, which maybe a downlink anchor carrier. In another design, the first base stationmay send control information to the first UE on the first carrier andmay send control information to the second UE on the second carrier. Thefirst base station may also send at least one synchronization signal oneach of the first and second carriers to allow UEs to detect the firstbase station.

In another design, the first and second carriers may be for the uplink.For block 612, the first base station may receive a first datatransmission sent by a first UE on the first carrier at the firsttransmit power level. For block 614, the first base station may receivea second data transmission sent by a second UE on the second carrier atthe second transmit power level. In one design, the first base stationmay receive control information from the first and second UEs on thefirst carrier, which may be an uplink anchor carrier. In another design,the first base station may receive control information from the first UEon the first carrier and may receive control information from the secondUE on the second carrier.

In one design, the first and second carriers may be assigned to thefirst and second base stations based on a static or semi-staticschedule. In another design, the first base station may exchangesignaling with the second base station or a network entity to determinethe use of the first and/or second carrier by each base station. Forexample, the first base station may determine whether to reduce transmitpower on the second carrier based on capacity benefit to the second basestation or the wireless network.

In one design, the first base station may reserve a portion of the firstcarrier for use by the second base station. The first base station mayuse the remaining portion of the first carrier for communication. Inanother design, the first base station may determine a portion of thesecond carrier reserved by the second base station for the first basestation. The first base station may then communicate on the reservedportion of the second carrier at the first transmit power level.

In one design, the first base station may identify at least one UEaccessing the base station via the first carrier and observing lessinterference on the second carrier. The first base station may directthe identified UE(s) to the second carrier in order to balance loadacross carriers.

In one design, the first base station may broadcast (i) bar informationindicating that the first carrier is not barred from use and (ii) barinformation indicating that the second carrier is barred from use. Inanother design, the first base station may broadcast bar informationindicating that the second carrier is barred from use by a first set ofUEs and not barred from use by a second set of UEs. The first basestation may also broadcast other bar information for the first and/orsecond carrier.

In one design, the first base station may communicate on (i) a thirdcarrier at a third transmit power level and (ii) a fourth carrier at afourth transmit power level lower than the third transmit power level toreduce interference on the fourth carrier. The first and second carriersmay be used for communication on one link (e.g., the downlink), and thethird and fourth carriers may be used for communication on the otherlink (e.g., the uplink).

FIG. 7 shows a design of an apparatus 700 for communicating in awireless network. Apparatus 700 includes a module 712 to communicate ona first carrier at a first transmit power level by a first base station,and a module 714 to communicate on a second carrier at a second transmitpower level by the first base station, the second transmit power levelbeing lower than the first transmit power level.

FIG. 8 shows a design of a process 800 for communication by a secondbase station in a wireless network. The second base station maydetermine a carrier having less interference from a first base stationamong multiple carriers available for communication (block 812). Thesecond base station may determine the interference on each of themultiple carriers based on over-the-air measurements from UEs, signalingfrom the first base station, etc. The second base station maycommunicate on the carrier (block 814). The first and second basestations may belong in different power classes or may support differentassociation types.

FIG. 9 shows a design of an apparatus 900 for communicating in awireless network. Apparatus 900 includes a module 912 to determine acarrier having less interference from a first base station amongmultiple carriers available for communication, and a module 914 tocommunicate on the carrier by a second base station, the first andsecond base stations belonging in different power classes or supportingdifferent association types.

FIG. 10 shows a design of a process 1000 for communication by a UE in awireless network. The UE may detect a first base station operating on afirst carrier at a first transmit power level and on a second carrier ata second transmit power level (block 1012). The second transmit powerlevel may be lower than the first transmit power level to reduceinterference to a second base station operating on the second carrier.The first and second base stations may belong in different power classesor may support different association types. The UE may communicate withthe first base station on the first carrier at the first transmit powerlevel and/or on the second carrier at the second transmit power level(block 1014).

In one design of block 1012, the UE may receive signals (e.g.,synchronization signals) on the first and/or second carrier frommultiple base stations including the first base station. The UE mayselect the first base station for communication from among the multiplebase stations based on the received signals. For example, the UE mayselect the first base station based on received signal quality,pathloss, etc.

The UE may select the first or second carrier for communication with thefirst base station. In one design, the UE may determine received signalquality of each of the first and second carriers. The UE may select thefirst or second carrier having higher received signal quality forcommunication. In another design, the UE may select the first carrier ifinterference on the second carrier is above a threshold. The UE mayselect the second carrier if the interference on this carrier is belowthe threshold. The UE may also select the first or second carrier inother manners.

The UE may communicate with the first base station on the selectedcarrier. In one design, the UE may exchange (e.g., receive or send) dataand control information on the selected carrier with the first basestation. In another design, the UE may exchange control information onthe first carrier and may exchange data on the selected carrier from thefirst base station.

FIG. 11 shows a design of an apparatus 1100 for communication in awireless network. Apparatus 1100 includes a module 1112 to detect afirst base station operating on a first carrier at a first transmitpower level and on a second carrier at a second transmit power levellower than the first transmit power level, and a module 1114 tocommunicate with the first base station on the first carrier at thefirst transmit power level and/or on the second carrier at the secondtransmit power level.

FIG. 12 shows a design of a process 1200 for communication on at leastone carrier with control information being sent on a designated carrierdifferent from the at least one carrier. Process 1200 may be performedby a station, which may be a base station, a UE, or some other entity.The station may communicate on at least one carrier (block 1212). Thestation may exchange control information on a first carrier for thecommunication on the at least one carrier (block 1214). The firstcarrier may be different from the at least one carrier. The controlinformation may comprise scheduling grants, CQI information, ACKinformation, and/or other information for data transmissions on the atleast one carrier.

The station may be a base station. In one design, the at least onecarrier and the first carrier may be for the downlink. The base stationmay send at least one data transmission to at least one UE on the atleast one carrier and may send control information (e.g., schedulinggrants, etc.) to the at least one UE on the first carrier. In anotherdesign, the at least one carrier and the first carrier may be for theuplink. The base station may receive at least one data transmission fromat least one UE on the at least one carrier and may receive controlinformation (e.g., resource requests, ACK information, etc.) from the atleast one UE on the first carrier.

The station may be a UE. In one design, the at least one carrier and thefirst carrier may be for the downlink. The UE may receive a datatransmission from a base station on the at least one carrier and mayreceive control information (e.g., scheduling grants, etc.) from thebase station on the first carrier. In another design, the at least onecarrier and the first carrier may be for the uplink. The UE may send adata transmission to a base station on at least one of the at least onecarrier and may send control information (e.g., resource requests, ACKinformation, etc.) to the base station on the first carrier.

FIG. 13 shows a design of an apparatus 1300 for communication in awireless network. Apparatus 1300 includes a module 1312 to communicateon at least one carrier, and a module 1314 to exchange controlinformation on a first carrier for the communication on the at least onecarrier, with the first carrier being different from the at least onecarrier.

FIG. 14 shows a design of a process 1400 for communication on a carrierwith auto-configuration. Process 1400 may be performed by a station,which may be a UE or a network entity. The network entity may be a basestation, a network controller, or some other entity. The station maydetermine a metric for each of multiple carriers available forcommunication (block 1412). The metric may comprise at least oneparameter other than signal strength, such as received signal quality,pathloss, etc. The station may select a carrier for communication fromamong the multiple carriers based on the metric for each carrier, e.g.,as described above (block 1414). The station may communicate on theselected carrier (block 1416). In one design, both data and controlinformation may be exchanged (e.g., sent or received) via the selectedcarrier. In another design, control information may be exchanged via theselected carrier, and data may be exchanged via the selected carrierand/or another carrier. The selected carrier may be designated as ananchor carrier for the station and may have the attributes describedabove for the anchor carrier.

FIG. 15 shows a design of an apparatus 1500 for communication in awireless network. Apparatus 1500 includes a module 1512 to determine ametric for each of multiple carriers available for communication, themetric comprising at least one parameter other than signal strength, amodule 1514 to select a carrier for communication from among themultiple carriers based on the metric for each carrier, and a module1516 to communicate on the selected carrier.

FIG. 16 shows a design of a process 1600 for broadcasting barinformation by a base station in a wireless network. The base stationmay determine bar information for at least one carrier (block 1612). Thebar information for each carrier may indicate whether the carrier isbarred from use. The base station may broadcast the bar information toUEs, which may use the bar information to determine access to the basestation (block 1614).

In one design, the at least one carrier may comprise first and secondcarriers. The bar information for the first carrier may indicate thatthe first carrier is barred, and the bar information for the secondcarrier may indicate that the second carrier is not barred. For example,the base station may be able to use full transmit power on the secondcarrier and a lower transmit power level on the first carrier. The barinformation may be used to direct UEs to access the base station via thesecond carrier. The base station may then redirect one or more UEs tothe first carrier, if appropriate.

In another design, the bar information for a given carrier may indicatethat the carrier is not barred for a first set of UEs and is barred fora second set of UEs. For example, the base station may be able to use alower transmit power level on the carrier. The first set of UEs may beUEs that can achieve satisfactory performance with the lower transmitpower level. The second set of UEs may be UEs that require a highertransmit power level in order to achieve satisfactory performance. Asanother example, the first set of UEs may be capable of operating onmultiple carriers. These UEs may receive data on the carrier at a lowertransmit power level and may receive control information on anothercarrier at a higher transmit power level. The bar information for eachcarrier may also comprise other information that may be use to controlaccess and communication on the carrier.

FIG. 17 shows a design of an apparatus 1700 for communication in awireless network. Apparatus 1700 includes a module 1712 to determine barinformation for at least one carrier, the bar information for eachcarrier indicating whether the carrier is barred from use, and a module1714 to broadcast the bar information to UEs.

The modules in FIGS. 7, 9, 11, 13, 15 and 17 may comprise processors,electronics devices, hardware devices, electronics components, logicalcircuits, memories, software codes, firmware codes, etc., or anycombination thereof

For clarity, much of FIGS. 6 through 17 has been described for twocarriers. In general, the techniques may be applied to any number ofcarriers in an analogous manner.

FIG. 18 shows a block diagram of a design of a base station/eNB 110 anda UE 120, which may be one of the base stations/eNBs and one of the UEsin FIG. 1. Base station 110 may be equipped with T antennas 1834 athrough 1834 t, and UE 120 may be equipped with R antennas 1852 athrough 1852 r, where in general T≧1 and R≧1.

At base station 110, a transmit processor 1820 may receive data from adata source 1812 and control information from a controller/processor1840. Processor 1820 may process (e.g., encode and symbol map) the dataand control information to obtain data symbols and control symbols,respectively. Processor 1820 may also generate reference symbols, e.g.,for synchronization signals and reference signals. A transmit (TX)multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) processor 1830 may perform spatialprocessing (e.g., precoding) on the data symbols, the control symbols,and/or the reference symbols, if applicable, and may provide T outputsymbol streams to T modulators (MODs) 1832 a through 1832 t. Eachmodulator 1832 may process a respective output symbol stream (e.g., forOFDM, etc.) to obtain an output sample stream. Each modulator 1832 mayfurther process (e.g., convert to analog, amplify, filter, andupconvert) the output sample stream to obtain a downlink signal. Tdownlink signals from modulators 1832 a through 1832 t may betransmitted via T antennas 1834 a through 1834 t, respectively.

At UE 120, antennas 1852 a through 1852 r may receive the downlinksignals from base station 110 and may provide received signals todemodulators (DEMODs) 1854 a through 1854 r, respectively. Eachdemodulator 1854 may condition (e.g., filter, amplify, downconvert, anddigitize) a respective received signal to obtain input samples. Eachdemodulator 1854 may further process the input samples (e.g., for OFDM,etc.) to obtain received symbols. A MIMO detector 1856 may obtainreceived symbols from all R demodulators 1854 a through 1854 r, performMIMO detection on the received symbols if applicable, and providedetected symbols. A receive processor 1858 may process (e.g.,demodulate, deinterleave, and decode) the detected symbols, providedecoded data for UE 120 to a data sink 1860, and provide decoded controlinformation to a controller/processor 1880.

On the uplink, at UE 120, a transmit processor 1864 may receive andprocess data from a data source 1862 and control information fromcontroller/processor 1880. Processor 1864 may also generate referencesymbols for a reference signal. The symbols from transmit processor 1864may be precoded by a TX MIMO processor 1866 if applicable, furtherprocessed by modulators 1854 a through 1854 r (e.g., for SC-FDM, etc.),and transmitted to base station 110. At base station 110, the uplinksignals from UE 120 may be received by antennas 1834, processed bydemodulators 1832, detected by a MIMO detector 1836 if applicable, andfurther processed by a receive processor 1838 to obtain decoded data andcontrol information sent by UE 120. Processor 1838 may provide thedecoded data to a data sink 1839 and the decoded control information tocontroller/processor 1840.

Controllers/processors 1840 and 1880 may direct the operation at basestation 110 and UE 120, respectively. Processor 1840 and/or otherprocessors and modules at base station 110 may perform or direct process600 in FIG. 6, process 800 in FIG. 8, process 1200 in FIG. 12, process1400 in FIG. 14, process 1600 in FIG. 16, and/or other processes for thetechniques described herein. Processor 1880 and/or other processors andmodules at UE 120 may perform or direct process 1000 in FIG. 10, process1200 in FIG. 12, process 1400 in FIG. 14, and/or other processes for thetechniques described herein. Memories 1842 and 1882 may store data andprogram codes for base station 110 and UE 120, respectively. A scheduler1844 may schedule UEs for data transmission on the downlink and/oruplink.

Those of skill in the art would understand that information and signalsmay be represented using any of a variety of different technologies andtechniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information,signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout theabove description may be represented by voltages, currents,electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields orparticles, or any combination thereof.

Those of skill would further appreciate that the various illustrativelogical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described inconnection with the disclosure herein may be implemented as electronichardware, computer software, or combinations of both. To clearlyillustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, variousillustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have beendescribed above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether suchfunctionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon theparticular application and design constraints imposed on the overallsystem. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality invarying ways for each particular application, but such implementationdecisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from thescope of the present disclosure.

The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits describedin connection with the disclosure herein may be implemented or performedwith a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), anapplication specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmablegate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate ortransistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combinationthereof designed to perform the functions described herein. Ageneral-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in thealternative, the processor may be any conventional processor,controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also beimplemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combinationof a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one ormore microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other suchconfiguration.

The steps of a method or algorithm described in connection with thedisclosure herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in a softwaremodule executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. Asoftware module may reside in RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory,EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, hard disk, a removable disk, aCD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. Anexemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such that theprocessor can read information from, and write information to, thestorage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integralto the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in anASIC. The ASIC may reside in a user terminal. In the alternative, theprocessor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components in auser terminal.

In one or more exemplary designs, the functions described may beimplemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof.If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on ortransmitted over as one or more instructions or code on acomputer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes both computerstorage media and communication media including any medium thatfacilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. Astorage media may be any available media that can be accessed by ageneral purpose or special purpose computer. By way of example, and notlimitation, such computer-readable media can comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM,CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or othermagnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carryor store desired program code means in the form of instructions or datastructures and that can be accessed by a general-purpose orspecial-purpose computer, or a general-purpose or special-purposeprocessor. Also, any connection is properly termed a computer-readablemedium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website,server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable,twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologiessuch as infrared, radio, and microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiberoptic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such asinfrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of medium.Disk and disc, as used herein, includes compact disc (CD), laser disc,optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk and blu-ray discwhere disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproducedata optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also beincluded within the scope of computer-readable media.

The previous description of the disclosure is provided to enable anyperson skilled in the art to make or use the disclosure. Variousmodifications to the disclosure will be readily apparent to thoseskilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may beapplied to other variations without departing from the spirit or scopeof the disclosure. Thus, the disclosure is not intended to be limited tothe examples and designs described herein but is to be accorded thewidest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosedherein.

What is claimed is: 1-46. (canceled)
 47. A method of communicating in awireless communication network, comprising: determining a metric foreach of multiple carriers available for communication, the metriccomprising at least one parameter other than signal strength; selectinga carrier for communication from among the multiple carriers based onthe metric for each carrier; and communicating on the selected carrier.48. The method of claim 47, wherein the metric comprises received signalquality, and wherein the selecting a carrier for communication comprisesselecting a carrier with highest received signal quality forcommunication.
 49. The method of claim 47, wherein the metric comprisespathloss, and wherein the selecting a carrier for communicationcomprises selecting a carrier with lowest pathloss for communication.50. The method of claim 47, wherein the metric comprises loading, andwherein the selecting a carrier for communication comprises selecting acarrier with least loading for communication.
 51. The method of claim47, wherein the metric comprises access quality determined based onquality-of-service (QoS), or data rate, or both, and wherein theselecting a carrier for communication comprises selecting a carrier withhighest access quality for communication.
 52. The method of claim 47,wherein the communicating on the selected carrier comprises designatingthe selected carrier as an anchor carrier for the base station, andexchanging control information by the base station via the selectedcarrier.
 53. The method of claim 47, wherein the determining a metric,the selecting a carrier for communication, and the communicating on theselected carrier are performed by a user equipment (UE).
 54. The methodof claim 47, wherein the determining a metric, the selecting a carrierfor communication, and the communicating on the selected carrier areperformed by a network entity.
 55. The method of claim 54, wherein thedetermining a metric for each of the multiple carriers comprisesdetermining the metric for each carrier based on backhaul informationreceived by the network entity from at least one base station.
 56. Themethod of claim 47, wherein the determining a metric for each of themultiple carriers comprises determining the metric for each carrierbased reports sent by user equipments (UEs).
 57. The method of claim 47,wherein the determining a metric for each of the multiple carrierscomprises determining the metric for each carrier based on over-the-airmeasurements.
 58. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:means for determining a metric for each of multiple carriers availablefor communication, the metric comprising at least one parameter otherthan signal strength; means for selecting a carrier for communicationfrom among the multiple carriers based on the metric for each carrier;and means for communicating on the selected carrier.
 59. The apparatusof claim 58, wherein the means for communicating on the selected carriercomprises means for designating the selected carrier as an anchorcarrier for the base station, and means for exchanging controlinformation by the base station via the selected carrier. 60-65.(canceled)
 66. The apparatus of claim 58, wherein the metric comprisesreceived signal quality, and wherein the means for selecting a carrierfor communication comprises means for selecting a carrier with highestreceived signal quality for communication.
 67. The apparatus of claim58, wherein the metric comprises pathloss, and wherein the means forselecting a carrier for communication comprises means for selecting acarrier with lowest pathloss for communication.
 68. The apparatus ofclaim 58, wherein the metric comprises loading, and wherein the meansfor selecting a carrier for communication comprises means for selectinga carrier with least loading for communication.
 69. The apparatus ofclaim 58, wherein the metric comprises access quality determined basedon quality-of-service (QoS), or data rate, or both, and wherein themeans for selecting a carrier for communication comprises means forselecting a carrier with highest access quality for communication. 70.The apparatus of claim 58, wherein the means for determining a metricfor each of the multiple carriers comprises means for determining themetric for each carrier based on backhaul information received from atleast one base station.
 71. The apparatus of claim 58, wherein the meansfor determining a metric for each of the multiple carriers comprisesmeans for determining the metric for each carrier based reports sent byuser equipments (UEs).
 72. The apparatus of claim 58, wherein the meansfor determining a metric for each of the multiple carriers comprisesmeans for determining the metric for each carrier based on over-the-airmeasurements.
 73. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:at least one processor; and a memory coupled to the at least oneprocessor, wherein the at least one processor is configured to:determine a metric for each of multiple carriers available forcommunication, the metric comprising at least one parameter other thansignal strength; select a carrier for communication from among themultiple carriers based on the metric for each carrier; and communicateon the selected carrier.
 74. The apparatus of claim 73, wherein theconfiguration of the at least one processor to communicate on theselected carrier comprises configuration to designate the selectedcarrier as an anchor carrier for the base station, and configuration toexchange control information by the base station via the selectedcarrier.
 75. The apparatus of claim 73, wherein the metric comprises oneof: received signal quality, pathloss, loading, or a combinationthereof, and wherein the configuration of the at least one processor toselect a carrier for communication comprises configuration to select acarrier with highest received signal quality for communication, lowestpathloss for communication, or least loading for communication.
 76. Theapparatus of claim 73, wherein the metric comprises access qualitydetermined based on quality-of-service (QoS), or data rate, or both, andwherein the configuration of the at least one processor to select acarrier for communication comprises configuration to select a carrierwith highest access quality for communication.
 77. The apparatus ofclaim 73, wherein the configuration of the at least one processor todetermine a metric for each of the multiple carriers comprisesconfiguration to determine the metric for each carrier based on one of:backhaul information received by the apparatus from at least one basestation, reports sent by user equipments (UEs), or over-the-airmeasurements.
 78. A computer program product, comprising: acomputer-readable medium comprising: code for determining a metric foreach of multiple carriers available for communication, the metriccomprising at least one parameter other than signal strength; code forselecting a carrier for communication from among the multiple carriersbased on the metric for each carrier; and code for communicating on theselected carrier.
 79. The computer program product of claim 78, whereinthe code for communicating on the selected carrier comprises code fordesignating the selected carrier as an anchor carrier for the basestation, and code for exchanging control information by the base stationvia the selected carrier.
 80. The computer program product of claim 78,wherein the metric comprises one of: received signal quality, pathloss,loading, or a combination thereof, and wherein the code for selecting acarrier for communication comprises code for selecting a carrier withhighest received signal quality for communication lowest pathloss forcommunication, or least loading for communication.
 81. The computerprogram product of claim 78, wherein the metric comprises access qualitydetermined based on quality-of-service (QoS), or data rate, or both, andwherein the code for selecting a carrier for communication comprisescode for selecting a carrier with highest access quality forcommunication.
 82. The computer program product of claim 78, wherein thecode for determining a metric for each of the multiple carrierscomprises code for determining the metric for each carrier based on oneof: backhaul information received from at least one base station,reports sent by user equipments (UEs), or over-the-air measurements.